Taking it for Granted

Easter Sunday, every year for the last 7 years, my family treks back to Illinois for Easter celebrations with my parents, brothers and sisters. On every one of those trips including this years, we always stop at McDonalds for breakfast before leaving Indy and then late that evening we stop half way home for drinks and a rest break. Clean restrooms, fast service and a predictable menu are why we stop at McDonalds when we travel. Most gas stations and many other fast food chains don't have the focus on these basic concepts. Nobody wants something that is unpredictible or unreliable. And we only need a couple of experiences to jade our perception of an entire industry.

Why is this relevant to financial services organizaitons, especially credit unions? We have to remember that we are still taken for granted to be the small, unsophisticated credit unions of the 1960's. Even many of our own members still think of us that way. When I travel, I still stop at gas stations to fill up the tank, but for restroom breaks or a quick meal, it's always McDonalds. I am even willing to drive to the next exit or a little farther down the road for McDonalds but never for gas...first one, easy on and off, lowest price. (Now I will admit, my wife probably has more influence on the McDonald's for restroom breaks than me, but isn't that true of financial decisions.)

If we want to be the McDonald's instead of the gas station for financial services we have to remind our members all the time that we are different, unique and able to serve many of their needs with trained professionals. We want and need people to drive a little further for us because we can't outbranch the banks. Low cost, easy access is not where we can survive long term. Research tells us that members lack confidence in credit union financial advisors...it is taken for granted that they were one day a teller and then promoted to investment advisor the next. Member perceptions are a quirky and frustrating area. We have to break out of the mold of the "it's your grandfather's credit union" and be sure that we are being relevant across a broad demographic segment.